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Georgia football: Coach Smart busts the myth that the Bulldogs lacked talent last season

By Kyle Funderburk

MEMPHIS, TN - DECEMBER 30: Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)
MEMPHIS, TN - DECEMBER 30: Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images) /
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Georgia football is 9-0 in 2017 and 17-5 with Kirby Smart as head coach. The Bulldogs finished last season 8-5 after finishing 10-3 in 2015 and 2014.

If you read Facebook comments, tweets, message boards or any public forum about last year’s Georgia football team, you probably saw people blame a lack of talent for the 8-5 season in 2016.

But that’s not how Kirby Smart sees it. In fact, Smart said the exact opposite to ESPN’s Chris Low last Friday saying that “the cupboard wasn’t bare when we got here.” Not only that, but Smart went out of his way to praise coach Richt.

“They don’t come any finer than coach Richt,” Smart said. “I know a lot of new coaches talk all the time about how they don’t have enough good players when they get there, but I can tell you this place was in better shape than Alabama was when we got there in 2007.”

That’s not to say that Georgia’s talent and development was on par with Alabama’s. Smart addressed that as well believing that Georgia still has a ways to go before they’re on par with the overall talent skill of Alabama.

"“We’re not there yet, not even close. We’ve made progress and are continuing to make progress in a lot of areas. We’ve got good players, and I love the way our kids are working and have bought in. But we don’t have the kind of players Alabama has. They’re the standard, and we’ve got to keep recruiting better players, developing those players and coaching them.”Kirby Smart to ESPN’s Chris Low"

This is all in stark contrast to the narrative passed around last year as the Dawgs lost games to Ole Miss, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida and Georgia Tech. But it was never a narrative that made much sense to begin with.

Georgia’s last two recruiting classes under coach Richt were ranked eighth  and sixth nationally according to 247 Sports. And nearly all of Georgia’s leaders and top contributors were a part of those recruiting classes.

Class of 2014

  • Lorenzo Carter: No. 18 overall; no. 2 weak-side defensive end; no. 1 in the state of Georgia. Two-year starter at outside linebacker and a four-year letterer. Team leader in sacks this season. 136 career tackles, 13.5 sacks, five forced fumbles
  • Sony Michel: No. 19 overall; no. 3 running back; no. 3 in the state of Florida. Four-year letterer. Second on the team with 710 rushing yards, tied for first with nine touchdowns. 3,096 career rushing yards, 542 career receiving yards, 31 total touchdowns.
  • Nick Chubb: No. 13 overall; no. 5 running back; and no. 32 in the state of Georgia. Four-year starter and letterer. Leads team with 867 rushing yards and tied for first with nine touchdowns. 4,291 career rushing yards, 42 total touchdowns.
  • Malkom Parrish: No. 69 overall; no. 8 cornerback; no. 5 in the state of Georgia. Three-year starter and four-year letterer. 118 career tackles, five interceptions.
  • Isaiah Wynn: No. 110 overall; no. 7 offensive guard; no. 16 in the state of Florida. Three-year starter, four-year letterer.
  • Jeb Blazevich: No. 133 overall; no. 3 tight end; no. 7 in the state of North Carolina. Four-year letterer.
  • Lamont Gaillard: No. 141 overall; no. 10 defensive tackle; no. 8 in the state of North Carolina. Moved to offense, currently starting at center.
  • Dyshon Sims: No. 230 overall; no. 17 offensive tackle; no. 16 in the state of Georgia. Three-year letter.
  • Isaiah McKenzie: No. 311 overall; no. 45 wide receiver; no. 43 in the state of Florida. Three-year letter, led the team in receptions and receiving yards in 2016. Best kickoff/punt returner in school history. Currently with the Denver Broncos.
  • Dominick Sanders: No. 820 overall; no. 68 safety; no. 73 in the state of Georgia. Four-year letterer. Second most career interceptions in school history.

Class of 2015

  • Trenton Thompson: No. 1 overall; no. 1 defensive tackle; no. 1 in the state of Georgia. Three-year starter at defensive tackle.
  • Terry Godwin: No. 29 overall; no. 1 athlete; no. 4 in the state of Georgia. Three-year letterer at wide receiver, 1,252 career receiving yards with seven touchdowns.
  • Roquan Smith: No. 48 overall; no. 5 outside linebacker; no. 5 in the state of Georgia. Three-year letterer at inside linebacker. Finalist for multiple post season awards in 2017. Will likely be first or second round draft pick in 2018.
  • Jonathan Ledbetter: No. 67 overall; no. 5 strong-side defensive end; no. 8 in the state of Georgia. Three-year letterer at defensive end.
  • Natrez Patrick: No. 89 overall; no. 5 weak-side defensive end; no. 10 in the state of Georgia. Three-year letter at inside linebacker, 101 total career tackles.
  • D’Andre Walker: No. 122 overall; no. 8 weak-side defensive end; no. 13 in the state of Georgia. Three-year letterer at outside linebacker.
  • Deandre Baker: No. 657 overall; no. 64 cornerback; no. 83 in the state of Florida. Two-year letterer, and two-year starter at corner back. Three career interceptions and 63 tackles.

Class of 2016

Of course much of last year’s recruiting class was already committed to Georgia before Coach Richt was fired. So it would be wrong to not at least mention them to show what kind of team Richt left Smart with.

  • Jacob Eason: No. 5 overall; no. 2 quarterback; no. 1 in the state of Washington.
  • Julian Rochester: No. 71 overall; no. 10 defensive tackle; no. 8 in the state of Georgia.
  • Elijah Holyfield: No. 173 overall; no. 7 running back; no. 18 in the state of Georgia.
  • Tyler Clark: No. 255 overall; no. 25 defensive tackle; no. 23 in the state of Georgia.
  • Javon Wims: No. 11 JUCO overall; no. 4 wide receiver; no. 1 in the state of Mississippi.
  • Tyrique McGhee: No. 643 overall; no. 56 cornerback; no. 54 in the state of Georgia.
  • Brian Herrien: No. 870 overall; no. 55 running back; no. 80 in the state of Georgia.

So 22 players who are a major part of this team either played for Georgia under Richt or committed while he was still coach. Of course Smart has built on that. You can see it most on defense where his staff is developing players much better. Roquan Smith, Lorenzo Carter and Trenton Thompson have all become household names under Smart’s guidance.

Part of the notion that Richt didn’t leave Smart with much talent stems from the mediocre offensive line play from last season. But even that isn’t Richt’s fault. With Mike Bobo as offensive coördinator, Georgia’s offense was closer to a spread than what they run now. And in spread offenses, a stout offensive line isn’t a necessity.

Jim Cheney’s stubbornness last season deserves more blame for the poor offensive line play than the line that was here when Richt left. Georgia had some great linemen, but the unit was never a particularly strong unit late in his time in Athens.

But the offensive system Georgia ran with Mike Bobo was closer to a spread offense than what they run now. So a powerful offensive line was not a necessity before.

Next: Kirby Smart answering dumb questions

Outside the offensives line, it’s hard to see why anyone though Richt left Georgia without much talent on the team. The Bulldogs are 9-1 so far in Smart’s second year, and only a small handful of this teams top performers committed to Georgia to play for Smart.

But Smart has elevated this team to a new level. Last week did hurt, but if the first nine games are any indication, it’s not going to take long for this team to begin another long winning streak.

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